Multi-media Installations and Barter Market Among Highlights at New Waves at ACM | Light to Night 2022

Explore the Singapore River and its stories known and imagined through art installations, guided tours and craft workshops at New Waves at the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum [Onsite and Online]
Date: 14 Jan - 3 Feb 2022 (Fri - Sat)
Fee: Free 

An annual visual arts festival spearheaded by National Gallery Singapore, Light to Night returns for its 6th edition in 2022. As part of the festival, Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) presents New Waves.

Journey through a memory portal installation on the ACM Green, and embark on a trail of unexpected objects in the galleries. Experience multi-media installations, a modern-day barter market, artist workshops, and craft activities – all of which encourage you to see, think, and emerge into new light.

Art Installations

Memory Portals

Image credits Debbie Ding

Venue: ACM Green
Date: 11 Jan - 3 Feb 2022
Time: All-day

In Memory Portals by Debbie Ding, two glowing doorways stand on the ACM Green representing alternate, fantastical views of the Singapore River. These portals visually reinterpret the textual dataset collected by the artist for her 2010 work, Here the River Lies, which included an interactive map of the Singapore River that required the participation of the audience to complete. The audience was invited to contribute their memories, real or imaginary, to the large hand-drawn map. Over 1700 stories were collected. These stories have been re-interpreted as layers of memory, fantasy, and storytelling in Memory Portals.

As the River Flows

Venue: ACM River Room, L2
Date: 14 - 15, 21 - 22 Jan 2022
Time: 5 pm - 9.30 pm

A collaborative project led by composer Chong Li-Chuan and multi-disciplinary artist Casey Chen, As the River Flows presents a unique sound and light experience inspired by stories, sound, and oral histories of the Singapore River.

Navigate the past, present, and future of the river through the artists’ intervention and go with the flow in the ACM River Room.

The River Connects

Image credits Ong Kian Peng

Venue: ACM Foyer, L2
Date: 14 Jan - 3 Feb 2022
Time: All-day

An immersive media installation by artist Ong Kian Peng, The River Connects highlights the bridges along the Singapore River. As its title suggests, this work explores the possibilities of human connection on and by the river — an organic phenomenon that can span mobility, commerce, and social interactions.

Inspired by this notion, The River Connects references the many ways of connecting through a collection of archival and 3D-scanned images of the bridges. It presents the stories they hold in an interactive and experiential format, while giving the audience new perspectives of sights, familiar and yet distant.

The River Connects is presented as part of Curiocity: Places & Perspectives, an initiative of the National Library Board’s Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025 (LAB25), which aims to nurture a stronger appreciation of the Singapore experience, in partnership with Light to Night Festival 2022.

Programmes

ACM Gallery Trail: Unexpected Objects

Image credits Asian Civilisations Museum

Venue: ACM Permanent Galleries, Online
Date: 14 Jan - 3 Feb 2022

Embark on this self-guided trail to explore the intriguing stories behind the objects on display at the ACM. The trail will shed light on what lies beneath the surface of selected objects - from the quirky to the unexpected. 

Drop-in Craft: Design your Family Crest

Image credits Asian Civilisations Museum

Venue: ACM Foyer, L2
Date: 15, 22, 29 Jan 2022
Time: 5.30 pm - 8 pm 

Drop in at ACM to create your own family heirloom! Inspired by the Armorial "Mistake" Plate in ACM’s collection, participants will be able to design a family crest of their own on a ceramic plate.

Barter Market at ACM

Image credits Craft Varies

Venue: ACM River Room, L2
Date: 28 - 29 Jan 2022
Time: 6.30 pm - 9 pm 

Experience a modern-day trading port at the Barter Market at ACM. Bring along an item for bartering, or a story or idea about the Singapore River to trade for handmade objects or live art experiences.

Items to be traded in the Barter Market will be limited to the first 50 pieces per day. 

Guided Tours: Unexpected Objects

Image credits Asian Civilisations Museum

Venue: ACM - Meeting point at lobby
Date: 15, 22, 29 Jan 2022
Time: 6 pm - 7.30 pm (30 - 45 mins)
Fee: $10 refundable deposit

Uncover what lies beneath the surface of selected objects in small group tours conducted by museum docents. The tour is suitable for ages 13 and up.

Only limited spaces are available, so if you are interested, be sure to register soon for the 15 Jan, 22 Jan and 29 Jan guided tours online. 

As the River Flows: Sound Artist Workshop

Image credits Casey Chen

Venue: ACM Discovery Room, B1
Date: 15 Jan 2022
Time: 7.30 pm - 9 pm
Fee: $10 refundable deposit (registration required)

Join composer and sound artist Chong Li-Chuan to dive deeper into the making of the audio experience of As the River Flows. This workshop will begin with the artist sharing how the installation was conceived and put together through layers of sound, light, and contexts. Participants will also be introduced to a framework of the different modes of listening that often go unnoticed in our everyday lives.  

Then, join Li-Chuan on a guided soundwalk to appreciate sounds in the environment around Empress Place. The workshop will end with a demonstration on how to create a sonic postcard from a recording made during the soundwalk by using basic audio editing techniques with Audacity software, which participants can try out at home.

This workshop is suitable for children ages 8 and up. Children 12 years and below should be accompanied by an adult. 

As the River Flows: Light Artist Workshop

Image credits Asian Civilisations Museum

Venue: ACM Discovery Room, B1
Date: 22 Jan 2022
Time: 7.30 pm - 9 pm
Fee: $10 refundable deposit (registration required)

Join artist and designer Casey Chen to dive deeper into the making of the light design for As the River Flows. This workshop will begin with the artist sharing how the installation was conceived and put together through layers of sound, light, and contexts. Casey will then share the inspiration behind the lighting design – transformation of unexpected, seemingly mundane objects – and what he thinks about using light as a medium in his art practice. 

Participants will then be shown a demonstration of how objects in the installation were assembled before making their own mini colander lamp to take home. 

This workshop is suitable for children ages 8 and up. Children 12 years and below should be accompanied by an adult. 

Safe Management Measures

Vaccination-differentiated safe management measures (VDS) have been implemented for entry to museums. Individuals will be allowed entry in group sizes up to 5 persons if all are vaccinated. 

Children ages 12 years and below, recovered individuals, and unvaccinated individuals with a negative Pre-Event Test (PET) result, can be included in the groups of 5. If there is more than one child age 12 or below in the group of 5 persons, both children must be from the same household. 

Singapore's current Safe Management Measures (SMM) will be in effect. You will need to wear a mask and remain in your personal group (max 5 pax). SMM are subject to change.